A re-occurring presence in the film is the fascist military, which we understand are called the ZZ. These people are brought into the film only ever to pose a problem or great to the protagonists.
An example of this is when M. Gustav (Ralph Fiennes) is arrested by Henckel’s (Edward Norton) and his men. This paints the military as a negative, oppressive force. Even though we, the audience, do not know who they work for or why they do what they do, we understand that they are antagonists from the actions they take, their evident racism towards Zero ( Tony Revolori) and their oppressive methods.
Their grey and straight uniforms are also very dull and grim, almost similar to that of a Nazi uniform. The audience knows what a Nazi uniform looks like, so the obvious resemblance through the badges, coats and hats leads us to associate them with Nazi’s.
The way that Henkels men go about their orders immediately also shows how strict and authoritarian they are. It also establishes Henckel’s position as a high ranking officer. As I mentioned earlier, the badges subtly reference those worn by Nazi officers to display rank. the way that those in the film are star-shaped and arranged symmetrically in the uniform stop them from being direct Nazi uniforms, but subtly bring the image to a viewers mind.
Another notable point is the way that the soldiers are tightly arranged in formations in all scenes shows how strict and tight they are. The banners shown in the hotel lobby after it has been taken over by the military also strongly hints back to Nazi propaganda.
The wold emblem shown later on in the film also brings the image of Nazi uniformity into the viewers head, instantly establishing the character as evil, before they even do anything. The way that they take over the hotel later on and completely re-decorate it also shows how evil the military is, and once again subtly references Nazi takeovers of places in WW2.
Finley Cairns A-Level Film Studies Blog 
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